The Grand Sumo Tournament & The Edo Museum

A week after our Nagano adventure found us on our sixth ITT tour.  This time we were headed back to Tokyo to visit the Edo Museum and to watch a Sumo Grand Tournament.  The bus ride to Tokyo was fairly quick, about two hours.  However, the time really all depends on the traffic situation.  If the traffic is bad you can double your time easily.

Once again we were lucky enough to be joined by friends.   "A"'s classmate and her family were also taking the tour.  Having friends along made the bus trip go by much faster.  Well, friends and Nintendo DS.

We arrived at the Ryogoku Kokugikan (The National Sumo Arena).  However, since the January Sumo tournament is an all day competition we went to visit the Edo-Tokyo Museum which is right next to the Arena.  Walking towards the Edo Museum, we saw that the Arena was decorated with Noburi flags for the tournament.

Once inside the Edo Museum we had about an hour to explore the different displays.

The girls enjoyed the interactive displays the most.

 So did the adults.  Wow, my form is really bad.

Doug's is  much better.

As with any museum, you could take hundreds of photos of each and every exhibit.  We did but I'm nice enough not to put you through that.  And anyways, the coolest thing about the Edo Museum, in my opinion, wasn't necessarily the displays but the escalator to exit the Museum.  It zigzagged up & down!

We then walked next door to the Sumo Arena.  By this time the lesser wrestlers had already begun their matches.  Sumo has a long history in Japan, much too long for me to explain in a blog.  However, I do recommend a visit to the link I provided for a basic explanation.

Once in, we walked around the arena visiting the food vendors and seeing some non-competing wrestlers walking around.  These younger and not well-known wrestlers make little money and depend on monetary donations from fans and sponsors.  This gentleman was kind enough to take a picture with "A".  She had been wanting to meet a real life sumo wrestler since arriving in Japan.

The food vendors sold a variety of dishes, one of them being Chankonabe, a popular dish eaten by the sumo wrestlers.  Unfortunately, the food vendors ran out of food fairly quickly but we managed to grab a few basic bento dishes.

Chankonabe

We made it to our seats and prepared to enjoy the competition.  Our seats weren't grand but we had a decent view of the venue.

As the tournament progressed the arena filled up and the excitement built.  

The matches became more dynamic also.  For such large men, the wrestlers are amazingly agile.

Rituals play a big part in sumo, here the wrestlers gather around the referee in the middle of the circle as they perform the ring entering ceremony.

As the wrestlers gain in rank, the ritual performances increase.

 Along with the increase in rituals, the higher ranking the wrestler the more money is given to the match.  Each of these flags represent a few thousand dollars.  Whoever wins the match takes the cash.

By the way, sumo wrestlers are not always fat and Japanese.  Here is a skinny, European sumo wrestler.  Unfortunately, he lost his match.

As with most professional sports, it is more exciting to watch it live, and sumo is no exception.  Unfortunately, the video shows a very short match.  Most matches last a few seconds, but the excitement of seeing these huge men throw each other around is very contagious.

I wish I could share how enjoyable and exciting watching sumo live is.  However, the best I can do is to recommend seeing one yourself.  In the end, it was another great time and we can't wait until our next adventure in Japan.

Hanging with the Nagano Snow Monkeys

The New Year found us partaking in the best ITT tour to date.  The Jigokudani Yaen-Koen (Snow Monkey Park) in Nagano was our 5th ITT tour since arriving in Japan and by far the most fun.  It was a  bit of a ride, about 3 hours by bus, but this time we were joined by Chief and her family.  Chief works with Doug at FSS, she is an awesome lady and keeps Doug on his toes.

With the ride being fairly long, we took a couple breaks on the way. One stop was a bus stop/restaurant a few miles away from the park.  We got to order a hot lunch there and purchase some of the famous Nagano apples.  The Nagano apple is the monster in "A"'s right hand.  Compare it to the everyday gala apple in her left.  That is an apple on steroids.

After lunch and apple purchases we headed up to the Jigokudani Monkey Park.  Jigokudani means "Hell's Valley" and is named so because of the steam rising from the hot vents that surround the snow covered valley.  

It's a little bit of a hike, about a mile,  to where the snow monkeys are and the path is narrow but it isn't too difficult and if you take your time and enjoy being outside, it's actually quite exhilarating.

There are a few steep steps and the trail can get muddy with the snow and heavy foot traffic,

but the gorgeous views make it all worth it.

Here is a photo of a hot spring that gives the park it's name.  There are hot spring pools that people can soak in also.  If you look very closely at the photo on the right, you will see some Japanese gentlemen enjoying a bath.  I had no idea they were in the shot until after I took it.  *eek*

After about 30 minutes of hiking through beautiful woods, we were ready to see some monkeys, but where were they?  

Eventually, one came out and walked along the path with us.  We were so excited that we followed this one little monkey for a few minutes.  Finally, it got bored with us and moved on.  Was that it?  We walked on...

We hiked a little further to the some hot springs and hit the jackpot.  The monkeys weren't stupid, it was cold out so they were warming themselves in the steamy water.

The monkeys were coming and going from the pools.  They seemed oblivious to the humans and would walk right by us, sometimes fighting with each other and rolling between our legs.  It's quite unnerving because when they are fighting you remember that they are wild animals.  In the beginning, the guides told us to not have any food on us and to never stare the monkeys in the eye or they will attack.  Nice.

 To prove that these monkeys are not staged but are roaming along freely I wanted to show you a video.  The photo below is of me next to the hot spring pool as I was getting ready to video tape that monkey in front of me.

And here is the actual footage I took.  I love this video because it shows how the monkeys just come and go, completely ignoring the humans that are gawking at them.

After about two hours visiting with the snow monkeys it was time to head home.

We boarded the bus and said goodbye to Nagano.  It is beautiful there and a snow enthusiast's dream.  Once again, we hope to return to Nagano and explore more of what it has to offer.

Eventually, even the scenery outside the bus window was not enough to keep us up, it was a long day.

So, another adventure done and over with.  We can't wait to share the next one with you.  Until then,

The Hickey Family